Operating means for greenhouse ventilating panels



Oct. 30, 1951 A. B. KLEINHANS OPERATING MEANS FOR GREENHOUSE VENTILATING PANELS' 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. 5l 1947 (II/II I'\ IIIIIA gmc/wl" A. B. KLEINHANS Oct. 30, 1951 A. B. KLEINHANS 2,573,340

OPERATING MEANS FOR GREENHOUSE VENTILATING PANELS Filed Feb. 5, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 A. B. KLEINHANS A. B. KLElNHANs Oct. 30, 195] OPRATING MEANS FOR GREENHOUSE VENTILATING PANELS s .sheet's-sheet 5 Filed Feb. 5, 1947 Summa/bom A. B. KLEINHANS rafters and intermediate studs. "supported by the stringers and ridgepole, com- Patented Oct. 30, 1951 f-UNITED STATES PATENT omer;

OPERATING MEANS FOR GREENHOUSE VENTILATIN G PANELS Arthur B. Kleinhans, Easton, Pa. Application February 5, 1947,`Seria1No.-726,512

4 Claims.

This invention relates to greenhouses of the i special structure described in my copending application, Serial Nos. '726,511 and '728,539 (now Patent No. 2,463,183), relating to greenhouse framing andA roof structures, respectively, and is p particularly directed to mechanism for operating the pivoted Ventilating panels that form partsV of the wall and roof structures of such a greenhouse.

As described in said applications, the greenhouse comprises a side wall fabric including an upper section of fixed panels, and a lower section y rof Ventilating panels pivoted to swing 4upwardly and 'outwardly about horizontal axes. This wall fabric isv supported on a masonry foundation wall by a metallic framework including vertical studs,

the outer surfaces of which are spaced inwalully;l from the plane of the outer surface of the founv dation wall, and bracket structure extending outwardly from the studs and supporting the wall the'ventilating panels for swinging about horiz'ontal axes arranged outside the plane of the outer foundation Wall. surface.

' The roof structure comprises rafters supported on the vertical studs, 'a ridgepole supported by the rafters, Vand stringers Vvsupported by the A sheathing is prising fixed panel sections and other sections of panels that aresupported by the ridgepole for horizontal pivoting movement at their ends adjacent the ridg'epole, so they may be swung upwardly to provide ventilation.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide specialized operating mechanism for Ventilating wall and roof panels ,mountedk and arranged Vin theseparticular ways; and to cooperate with the panel arrangement in'contrib- .7. benches adjacent the wall fabric.

Fig. 6 is a cross-section on the Fig. 2.

Describing the drawings in detail, the greenhouse structure is supported upon a foundation wall 4 constructed of masonry or other suitable material. Embedded in the wall 4 are the lower portions of a series of vertical studs 5, the outer surfaces 6 of which are spaced inwardly of the plane of the outer surface 'Ilof the foundation Wall. Brackets 8 are secured to the studs 5 and project outwardly beyond their outer surfaces 6, and at their ends support a horizontal Stringer 9. At points spaced along the Stringer 9 brackets Iil are secured, such brackets being bifurcated and thereby presenting upper arms I I and lower arms I2, each of which extends outwardly beyond line 6,-6 in Ythe plane of the surface 'I of the wall 4. The

kwith the rails I4 and sill members Il in the foundation wall 4 to form close joints. The panels I3 and I6 form the outer wall fabric of the greenhouse.

The operating mechanism forming the subject matter of this invention is arranged to give emcient-and positive operation of the Ventilating panels, and at the same time to be disposed relative tothe greenhouse structure as to present no danger of damaging plants supported on At the same time, the mechanism is so mounted'as not to present obstructions in the aisles, or otherwise interfere with attendants working with the plants. A further advantage is that the various V'elements present no horizontal fiat surfaces upon studsA 5'on the inner side of their inner surfaces Fig. 2 is a` fragmentary side elevation showing,

the side structuf'of adjacent'xed andventilating panels of a greenhouse'wall;

` Fig. 3 is a fragmentary transverse sectional lview" showing the operator applied to the ventilating panels ofthe roof;

Fig.V 4 iis/a plan view of the operating shaft, .gpa'rtlyin section'on the line 4--4 vof Fig. 1. A Fig..5 is an isometric view showing the invenvtionapplied to a Vside"v'va1l section of a greenhouse; and

2I. To support the shaft 29, brackets. are provided that are secured to the studs and project .beyond their inner surfaces.

These brackets are in the form of complementary bearing plates clamped to opposite lateral surfaces of the studs by Ybolts 23, in such disposition that substantial The projecting portions 24 of Vthe clamp plates 22are provided 3 may be left between the two parts to prevent binding.

Operating linkage for swinging the pivoted panels I5 as the shaft 20 is rotated includes arms 21 extending laterally of the shaft 20, and oonveniently fixed to it in the manner shown by being clamped to its surface byy U-bolts 28. A preferred disposition of the arms 2T for operating the side wall panels is that shown in Fig..1, wherein the arm is vertical when the panel 16 is closed. A link 29 is pivoted at 30 toy the. arm 21 at a distance from the shaft 20 which may be adjusted to suit the conditions.k and insure tight closing of the panels.

Preferably there are two operating' arms; 21'V and links 29 for each movable ventilator p aneL,

as shown in Fig. 5, the outer end of each link be'- ing riveted or otherwise firmly secured to an operating bar 3.1 whichiextends the full length of the side wall of the greenhouse and is hingedly connected to the astragalsof the panels i6 by means oflinks or hinge fingers 32 andpivot pins 33. The operating bar 3l is made in sections connected at their ends by expansion couplings 34 to provide a flexible structure.

Operation of the mechanismis obvious. When the shaft 20 is turned-clockwise, as-seen in Fig. 1, the panel I6 is swung outward.V The advantages of the operating mechanism lie in its flexibility and capacity for adjustment to cooperate with the wall structure arrangement to provide a tight joint when closed and to be secure at all times. As noted'in my application Serial No.- 726,511, the position of the panels I6 outside the wall 4, and the relative inward spacing of the studs 5- isV advantageous in greenhouses, and this spacing isv made use of for the operating mechanism to provide arms and links of such lengths and relative angular dispositions as to ensure easy operation and tight closing of the pivoted panels, and yet place all of the mechanism in locations where it is out of the way and presents no danger of damaging plants.

An additional advantageof my improved panel operating'means lies in itsY use withventilating panels Vhaving all metal framing. Inwood panels--it isfnecessary that the supports that maintain the panels open be connected to the panels at, oradjacent-to theirbottom edges, since the weight-ofthe panels is ltoo great topermit their supportadjacent the pivot axes if wood framing is used. Use'of metal panel Vframing permits the operating links 32 to be connected to the pan` els-at points spaced substantial distances from the free lower edges of the'panels. This gives the-advantage of a shorter lever action being required to open the panels, and consequently requiresthat the lever 21 swing through a rela-1Y tively short arc to actuate the panels from closed to fully open position. This results in saving in space required for operation of the system.

Fig. 3 shows the operatingY means applied to"- Thev operating shaft 20 gers 32' the upper ends of which are pivoted at 44 in the channel of each astragal in the roof panel 4I.

The invention is not restricted to the precise dimensions and configuration of the several members as illustrated, being adaptable to other sizes and designs of greenhouseeconstruction, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1'. A metallic.' building structure comprising a serieszofweather excluding and Ventilating panels pivoted to said structure adjacent their alining horizontal edges for swinging about a commonfaxis;operating;mechanism for swinging said panels. including a flexible actuating bar extending parallel to said axis and overlapping a plurality of said panels, an4 operating shaft mounted on said structure with its'axis of rotation parallel to said actuating' bar and provided with a plurality of spaced crank arms swingable laterally with respect thereto, means connecting said crank arms andY bar for supporting the latter in adjustedpostion, andlinks at spaced intervals along said' bar connected thereto and to said' panels for securing the latter in adjustable position with respect to said building structure. y 2. Operatingmeans in accordance with claim l wherein the actuating bars are rigidly attached to the crank arm connecting means and'flexibly connected to the links connecting them to the panels.

3. Operating means in accordance with claim 'l wherein the actuating bar is composedy of. a plurality of sections' slidably connected at'their endsY to permit' expansion andl contraction independently ofsaid'panels andframe members.

4. Operating means forV adjusting the horizontally pivoted VentilatingV panels of a metallic greenhouse structure comprising a series of parallel links pivoted to said-panels at' their outer ends and'pi-voted' to aV flexible operating bar at their inner ends, ,saidj operating barV being made in sections with slidable joints between successive sections", and means for simultaneously operating saidsections to adjust said panels including a rotatable ,shaft supported withits axis parallel' to saidV bar and provided with a.. plurality of' crank arms, and connectingmembers pivoted attheir innenendsto saidcrank arms andfastenedat their outer ends tosaid'operating bar to support eacl'i section thereofin operating position.

ARTHUR B; KLEINHANS;

REFERENCES CITED The followingreferences.areqof record in-the sie of thispatent: 

